Lease Investigation Becomes State Inquiry

Regulators Flag Suspicious Deals

The state's car leasing investigation, originally focused on a few South Florida dealerships, has ballooned over the years into a statewide inquiry of 1,800 consumer complaints.

And the Attorney General's Office isn't done yet.

Investigators must finish Toyota refunds from 1989-92 and audit files from 1993 and 1994 - in addition to looking into other complaints.

The Toyota refunds stemmed from consumer complaints and a review of records supplied by Southeast Toyota and the state's 55 independent dealers.

Regulators flagged files with high sales prices, unusual trade-in deals and other irregularities, then analyzed them to see whether overcharges occurred, said Jack Norris, chief of the special prosecutions unit in Hollywood.

A new state law that took effect Oct. 1 requires dealers to disclose the starting price upon which a deal is based, the value of the trade-in and the total net cost of the deal. Dealers also must state that the transaction is a lease and give the consumers copies of all signed paperwork.

"Consumers just need to shop and compare," said Earl Stewart, owner of Lake Park Toyota. "That way, they don't have to match wits with a lease manager who has been in the business 20 years."

Consumers with complaints on leases from 1993 and 1994 still may file an affidavit, Norris said. The local office of the Attorney General's Office is at 4000 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 505-S, Hollywood, Fla. 33021.